Nozzle construction for use in the pneumatic handling of flour and the like



Aprill 4!, 1950 R. A. NORBOM 2,502,740

Y NOZZLE CONSTRUCTION FOR USE IN THE PNEUMATIC HANDLING OF FLOUR AND THELIKE Filed April 11, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet l m k\ V A 1 0 LO H H r--( 0 S0: x I

f r- 0 H y CO 1 "-'N 3- I :1 In N N EN a April 4, 1950 R; A. NORBOMNOZZLE CONSTRUCTION FOR USE IN THE PNEUMATIC HANDLING OF FLOUR AND THELIKE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 11, 1949 m u 0 m m m m m w 6 V .t 2 mA A L ,2. n a A R m 4 mu 6 o m 3 IMAM my. a2 3 3 ,d 7 & 3 w l 6 H UWW -H2 2 m 3 B WM. u R my April 4, 11950 R. A. NORBOM NOZZLE CONSTRUCTION FORUSE IN THE PNEUMATIC HANDLING OF FLOUR AND THE LIKE 3 Shee ts-Sheet 5Filed April 11, 1949 INVENTOR. RagnarA.Norbom Aw orneg Fiat-3 PatentedApr. 4, 1950 NFII QEFFGE NOZZLE CONSTRUCTION FOB. .USE, IN THE PNEUMATICHANDLING OE FLOUR. ANDL THELLIKE Ragnar/A. .Norbom,=. New Yrk ,.N;-: Y2,assignor'ltoo National l-Fitch z Corporation; a: corporation of;

Delaware 9"Claims:

Thissinvention relates to 'the handling of 'iinely dividedri bulk:materiallandt more particularly to an: ir'nprovedrsuction nozzlez-zfor.facilitating th'e" discharges. of aacontainerr by 11 a ipneumaticconveyor system; The einvention will be described teriai' handled; butitii will bevunder-stood that the invention: may be usedftofacilitate'the' handl'ingz'of any pulverizedg granular; or 'powde'redxmaterial; suohi aszcereal; grain ch'emicals and minerals; whichis susceptible of being- 00m- I veyed in an'airxstreamn extensible;h'orizontallyedisposed'i suction nozzle which projectsthrouglranvendiwall andis adapt ed to be ireciprocatedri'alon-g thebottom wall of an; elongated, generally 'tmughF-sh'apedd storagecompartment to Withdrawtfinely divided bulk? materialcontained"therein;-v Therextensible por tionof: :the nozzler-showmifilfth aforementioned." patent comprises atwo's open-ended'i'concentric'-tuy-.- bular :rconduits ,whichxarec spacedz: apart'ito:,proe vide an annular .rpassageway therebetween. The inner: ofcthese.atwoconduitsris telescopically asso ciated with aafixediconduit," therearward? ende of, which" is :-=connectedzttoiethezsucti'orrt.hOSexOfTEZx pneumatic conveyor: systemz; The :rearwardi-end: oftheannularr'passageway' communicates :with the: atmosphere exteriorly ofthe-compartment: Thus, the passagewayservestosconduct "the requisitesupply; Ofu material-entraining air: to: the: nozzle head f or;discharge-i annularly about the i open; intake end; of the innerrconduit-i.

Im actual? practice, it: has:- been found; that evacuation; of,fiourz'iromiaistorage ;compartment 2 with a :nozale zofathe above:describedzl'typa; which is forced-horizontally directly into and ..under"the flour. to-. -be evacuated; presents {practical prob-- lems. First0ft: all, flourrissdifiicultzcto;handle: pneumaticallyg'beeauseotzitsilacki of free-flowing;

characteristics: when-,1 compa cted; inn a.' container and requires :arather 1' delicateedirecting; of; the-- air :supply; for".aesuctioncintake :openinggin order toaber: broken down-.1 and aerated;properly for suctionpick-upgand,evacuations;. Such.aha-supply,

if improperly directed, will tend to blow material" away i from: thesuction; intake opening; thus lessening the rate .ofevacuation;.. Animproperly directed-pr excessive 1 air. supply; also (causes,- ex.-

cessiver turbulence and-,1 consequent undesirabledustinggoflthes-materiala Additionally, ,an openr,

ended suction nozzle/which is forced directly into theematerial .to: beaevacuatedis w susceptible-7 of; beooming pluggeds Funthermorieepenetration of =1 suchaaznozzle intocdensely packed-material is snota5?) generally" V-shapedi b'ottomsi:

easilyeifected. Lastly; particularly in" the case of fiour and*otherffinelydivided materials f IlEtV-" ing'simil'ar physicaltcharacteristics,nbridging of I the material sometimes occurs? int binshaving-I Such bridging-j, wherein the rm'aterialrbecomes arch'edvoverthe nozzle and? forms a? horizontal 'tunneluthrough: which thenozzle moves; causes substantially J'a cessation of all evacuation:-

Accordingly, it is :an "obj ect of :this invention to i provide a more:efiicientfl nozzle .head having? a high rate of evacuatiomlfora'suctiondischarge-1 nozzle of the type: that: is adaptedxto projectsthrough an'endrwall and berm'oved horizontally" along the bottom ofaicon-tainerifor finely divided bulkmaterial;

Another object ffth-isvinventionisto" provide a suction nozzle headofethe type described :thatdoes not-readilybecome plugged, that may moreeasily penetrate the, :materia1:*to:- be; evacuated-,5. that prevents rbridging; ands-that 1- effects proper r aeration without ;dustin r.,\

It is a further object: of. this: inventiontoprovidea .nozzle head ofthe typerdescribed with adjustable means for regulating-the velocity ofthe air supply to the suction! =intake-scpening-.-

Other objects and advantages of the-inventionwillbe evident from" the=-following description and accompanyingdrawings Fin which:

Figure I a iragmentary: longitudinah sec tionala View of a container,showing a nozzle embodyingthis invention positioned 'therein.

Figure 2 i is asplan-H view of" the nozzle head shown imFigurerlwith-portions broken away' to-show detailsa,

Figure :3 is :an: elevational. .view, partly in section of the nozzlehead.

Fig-uteri is an endwievnof the-nozzle head.

Figure 5; is aaperspective: view of-lthe nozzle head withportionsl-brokeneaway to show details.

Figuressfiand 7 :are perspective-views of:separateassemblagesshownsinFigure 5.

Referring now to the drawings, thereis shownn in Figures 1 and- 4 the-1ower:p ortio11;oi :an elon- Y, gated, enclosed container .or -.bin-. l0 .-having vvertie calendlwalls. lllandnside-awall slope sheets. l2,vwhichlconverge downwardlyto va generally rounde ed trough l3disposedccentrally along the bottom of the container. Projectingsnugly,- through an topeningginthe lower/portion .of: one end wall ofvthe container." and resting, innthel trough l3 is the extensible .portion.:.l 4 of .anlelongated tubue lar suctionnozzlelh Preferably thelportion l4- and the trough have .the rsameiradius. of curvae ture.,suitable meehanism; (not shown), suchas that described in theaforementioned patent, is connected to the portion l4, exteriorly of thecontainer [0, for effecting reciprocating movement thereof from one endof the trough Is to the other. The container end wall which faces theintake end of the nozzle preferably has an opening 15 therein providedwith a detachable closure IS in order to provide access to the intakeend of the nozzle or nozzle head H.

The extensible portion comprises a pair of concentrically-arrangedspaced tubular conduits l8 and IS. The rearward end, i. e., the endprojecting exteriorly of the container, of the inner or suction conduitI8 is adapted to be telescopically associated with a fixed conduit (notshown), the rearward end of which is connected to the suction hose (notshown) of a pneumatic conveyor systerm. The forward end of the suctionconduit is open to provide a suction intake opening. The annular spacebetween the two conduits forms an air duct 20 having its rearward end incommunication with the atmosphere, exteriorly of the container, in orderto supply material-conveying air to the intake end of the nozzle, aslater described. Preferably an air filte (not shown) is provided toclean the air entering the duct 20 in order to avoid contamination ofthe flour.

At the intake end of the nozzle, or the nozzlehead I1, the lower half ofthe suction conduit is is provided with an outwardly flared portion 2|that is secured, at its forward edge, to the forward edge of the outerconduit I9. Hence, the lower portion of the mouth or intake opening ofthe suction conduit is funnel-shaped while the upper portion iscylindrical. This construction also provides the lower portion of thenozzle head with an arcuate cutter edge 22 which facilitates penetrationof the nozzle head into densely packed material. It also is pointed outthat the flared portion 2| closes the lower portion of the forward endof the air duct 20 so that the lower portion of the nozzle head isdevoid of discharge outlets for material-entraining air.

The upper half of the air duct 20 is provided with a telescopicextension 23 (shown best in Figure 6) which overhangs and thus shieldsthe intake opening of the suction conduit from material directlythereabove. The extension 23 comprises segmental extension elements 24and '25 for the upper portion of the inner and outer conduits,respectively. Each of these elements is telescopically mounted withinits corresponding conduit. The forward end of the inner element 24 isprovided with an outwardly flared portion 26 which is secured, at itsforward edge, to the forward edge of the outer element 25. Thisconstruction provides the uppe portion of the nozzle head with anarcuate cutter edge 21 which facilitates penetration of the nozzle headinto densely packed material. It also is pointed out that the undersideof the extension 23 is funnel-shaped to facilitate the movement ofmaterial into the suction conduit. The inner element 24 is provided withlongitudinal side flanges 28 which extend radially throughdiametrically-opposed longitudinal slots 29 in the forward end of theinner conduit IS. The outer edges of the flanges 28 preferably arespaced somewhat inwardly of the peripheral outline of the outer conduitI9 (as shown best in Figure 2). The opposite side edges of the outerelement 25 are spaced above the flanges 28 to provide, on each side ofthe extension 23, an elongated air discharge port or opening 30. The aircurrents issuing laterally from each side of the nozzle head through theports 30 move in a generally forward and downward direction beforeturning back into the intake opening of the suction conduit. A forwardlyand upwardly inclined, generally arcuate, bafile member 3! havinghorizontally-disposed rectangular extensions 32 is disposed in the lowerportion of the duct 20 somewhat to the rea of the flared portion 2! ofthe inner conduit. The baffle member 3| directs the air flowingforwardly in the lower portion of the duct upwardly toward the lateralports 30, and also provides additional support for the forward end ofthe suction conduit. The rectangula extensions 32 of the bafile memberrest upon the upper edges of the flared portion 21 of the suctionconduit to prevent the entrance of material into the space between thebaflle member 3| and the flared portion 2|, and also provide support forthe rearward ends of the flanges 28.

The radius of curvature of the inner element 24 is somewhat less thanthat of the suction conduit l 8, so that an arcuate passageway 33 (shownbest in Figure 3) is provided therebetween. The passageway serves toby-pass a portion of the air from the duct 20 for discharge directlywithin the mouth of the suction conduit. The rearwardly directed jet ofair issuing from the passageway 33 removes any material that tends toplug the suction intake opening as a result of the nozzle being forcedforwardly into the material to be evacuated. It also will be noted thatthe slots 29 extend somewhat rearwardly of the flanges 28 to formadditional air by-passes that also assist in preventing plugging of theintake opening of the suction conduit.

The entire assembly comprising the duct extension 23 is mounted fortelescopic adjustment axially of the nozzle head in order to vary thesize of the air discharge ports 30 and, hence, the velocity of the airissuing therefrom. Thus, the extension may be adjusted to obtain maximumevacuation efiiciency with various types of finely divided or granularmaterial, certain of which require a greater turbulence than others inorder to be broken down and correctly aerated for entrainment in an airstream. The extension is adjustably mounted by means of two elongatedaligned members 34 and 35 (shown best in Figure 3), one of which issecured to the upper side of the inner conduit l8 adjacent its forwardend and projects forwardly thereof, and the other of which is secured inan opening formed in the flared portion 26 of the inner element 24. Abolt 36, which passes through a smooth bore in the member 35 and isthreaded into the member 34, connects the two members. The bolt 36 isfreely rotatable in the member 35, but is maintained against axialdisplacement relative thereto by a pin 3'! and annular groove 38. Hence,rotation of the bolt moves the extension 23 axially of the nozzle head.Preferably a block 39 is secured on the forward end of the member 34 andbears against the underside of the outer element 25 in order to provideadded support for the element 25 against the weight of bulk materialresting thereon.

In order to prevent bridging of flow over the nozzle with consequentcessation of evacuation, a double-edged knife-like blade 40 is'mountedvertically on the forward end of the nozzle head. 7

The height, or length, of the blade preferably is about equal to thediameter'of the nozzle and the blade is disposed in a plane parallel tothe axis of the nozzle, so that the blade will not impede movementof-the nozzle through the flour.

Both freehand \rear-iedgesof :the blade serve- (to cut through andbreakdown anybridges that form. above a the nozzle head, thereby:permitting thefiouritolflow' down to the suction intake opening..nSince'such bridging usually occursghowever, .only when both side wallI'slope sheets A2 are disposed-closely adjacent: the sides ,of thenozzle, the cutter blade usuallyls notnecessary when the nozzleheadisused in a container having caslopen'sheets which are relatively :widelyspaced apart. atutheir bottom edges.

In order to discharge the contents of the container ID by means of thenozzle, the suction is establishedand the extensible portion =14 movedslowly back and forth from one end of the-container to the other. ,Airis .drawn through the duct from the exterior of the container and isdischarged laterally from each side of the;nozzle head llxin a somewhatforward and downward directionv directly ahead of the suction intakeopening. 1,Hence, flour sliding-down the slope sheets [2 is drawn in bysuction under the duct extension 23, and simultaneously mixed withsufficient air for proper conveying in the pneumatic conveyor system. Noexcessive turbulence is created, thus eliminating undesirable dusting ofthe flour. It also is to be noted that all the forwardly directed edgesof the nozzle head are shaped as cutters to facilitate penetration ofthe nozzle into densely packed material.

Various structural changes in the specifi embodiment of the inventionshown and described will be evident to one skilled in the art.Therefore, the invention embraces all modifications that come Within thespirit and scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A suction nozzle for use with a pneumatic conveyor system to effectthe discharge of finely divided bulk material from a container having asubstantially horizontally disposed bottom wall, said nozzle beingadapted for axial movement in a horizontal position within and along thebottom wall of the container, said nozzle comprising: a suction conduithaving a material intake opening at one end thereof, the other end ofsaid conduit being adapted to be connected to the suction intake of apneumatic conveyor system; means secured to the intake end of saidconduit and projecting forwardly from the upper portion thereof to forman overhanging shield for said intake opening; and means for conductingmaterial-entraining air from outside the container to said intake end ofthe conduit and for discharging said air laterally and outwardly of saidopening adjacent and along the lower opposite side edges of said shield.

2. The structure defined by claim 1, including blade-like cutter meansprojecting upwardly from the forward end of the shield a distancesubstantially equal to at least the height of the nozzle for breakingdown bridging material.

3. A suction nozzle for use with a pneumatic conveyor system to effectthe discharge of finely divided bulk'material from a container having ahorizontally disposed bottom wall, said nozzle being adapted forrectilinear movement in a horizontal position within and along thebottom wall of the container, the said nozzle comprising: a suctionconduit having an intake opening at one end thereof, the other end ofsaid conduit being adapted. to be connected to the suction intake of apneumatic conveyor system; means overhanging said intake opening anddefining a hollow segmental extension of the upper portion said conduitshield-ing :said opening-said -extension having openings in the loweropposite sides thereof and means for conducting material-conveying airfrom outside :the containerzinto said extension-for discharge throughsaid side openings laterally-and outwardly ofsaid intake opening.

-4; The-structure defined by claim .3 including *means-"definingapassageway having one end thereof in communication with the interiorofthehol-low extension, the other 'end of said passageway'being disposedwithin and directed rearwardly of the intake opening, whereby a portionof the material-conveying air is directed rearwardly into said intakeopening.

5.--A-suction nozzle for use with a pneumatic conveyor system to eflectthe discharge of "finely divided bulk material from a container having ahorizontally disposed bottom wall, said nozzle being adapted forrectilinear movement in a horizontal position *within and along thebottom wall of the container, the said *nozzlecomprising: inner andouter spaced concentric conduits, one end of said inner conduit beingadapted to be connected to the suction intake of a pneumatic conveyorsystem, the other end thereof being open to provide a material intakeopening, and the space between said conduits forming a duct forconveying material-entraining air from outside the container fordischarge adjacent said intake opening; closure means for the lowerportion of the forward end of said duct, and means overhanging saidintake opening and defining an extension of the upper portion of saidduct, said 7 extension being closed at the forward end thereof andhaving air discharge openings in the opposite lower sides thereof.

6. The structure defined by claim 5 in which the lower portion of theintake opening and the underside of the forward end of the ductextension are defined by outwardly flaring portions of the inner conduitand the overhanging means, respectively, said portions extendingoutwardly to the peripheral outline of the outer conduit to provide theforward end of the nozzle with cutterlike edges to facilitatepenetration of the material to be discharged.

7. A suction nozzle for use with a pneumatic conveyor system to effectthe discharge of finely divided bulk material from a container having ahorizontally disposed bottom wall, said nozzle being adapted forrectilinear movement in a horizontal position within and along thebottom wall of the container, the said nozzle comprising: inner andouter spaced concentric tubular conduits, one end of said inner conduitbeing adapted to be connected to the suction intake of a pneumaticconveyor system, the other end thereof providing a material intakeopening, and the space between said conduits forming a duct forconveying material-entraining air from outside the container fordischarge adjacent said intake opening; the lower portion of the forwardend of said inner conduit being flared outwardly and joined to the outerconduit, thereby closing the lower portion of the forward end of saidduct; inner and outer arcuate elements secured concentrically within theupper portion of said intake opening and the upper portion of theforward end of said outer conduit, respectively, and forming anextension of said duct, said inner element having longitudinal flangeson opposite sides thereof which extend radially outwardly throughcorresponding slots in the forward end of said inner conduit, theforward ends of said elements being joined by an outwardly flaringportion of said inner element; the radius of curvature of said outerelement being substantially equal to that of said outer conduit and theradius of curvature of said inner element being somewhat less than thatof said inner conduit to provide a longitudinal passageway therebetween,the side edges of said outer element being spaced above said flanges toprovide lateral discharge openings for material-entraining air.

8. The structure defined by claim 7 in which the duct extension istelescopically adjustable axially of the conduits to vary the size ofthe air discharge openings.

9. A suction nozzle for use with a pneumatic conveyor system to effectthe discharge of finely divided bulk material from a container having ahorizontally disposed bottom wall, said nozzle be ing adapted forrectilinear movement in a horizontal position within and along thebottom Wall of the container, the said nozzle comprising: a suctionconduit having a material intake opening at one end thereof, the otherend of said conduit being adapted to be connected to the suction intakeof a pneumatic conveyor system; means for conducting material-entrainingair from outside the container to said intake end of the conduit; andmeans defining discharge openings for said air adjacent opposite lateralsides of said intake opening for discharging said air laterally andoutwardly thereof without discharge adjacent the upper and lowerportions of said intake opening.

RAGNAR A. NORBOM.

' file of this patent:

FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 300,998 Germany Oct. 4, 1917 304,718Germany Apr. 3, 1918 310,224 Germany Jan. 2, 1919

